TWO crews from Queen's Park High School Rowing Club lined up alongside the best the country has to offer at the National Rowing Championships of Great Britain.

The first day of the regatta, held at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham, was marred by strong winds and rain, causing large waves to accumulate by the end of the course.

Queen's Park's Chris Thomas took part in the heats for the J15 X1 singles, which were each timed over a 1,750m course.

Despite being slowed by the waves and a rescue boat picking up one of the numerous capsized rowers, the Chester rower booked a semi-final place. But he was denied the chance to race again in the competition as rowing for the day was abandoned due to the poor conditions - forcing the semi-finals to be scrapped.

It was decided that the fastest six rowers from the heats should go straight through to the final itself, so Chris missed out.

Luckily for Queen's Park's WJ14 quad - featuring Emma Clarke, Leigh Horan, Joy Roberts, Caroline Withers and cox Emily Collin - they were fast enough in their 2,000m heat to secure a place in the final.

All the crews were very evenly matched and raced line abreast in one of the most exciting finals of the afternoon, with the Chester quad finishing fifth with only a few seconds separating all the boats.